


Hope Taken Away

by zarabithia



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Child Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-04
Updated: 2007-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-20 18:19:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14899577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: The Joker kills the wrong person, and Dick makes sure he pays for it.





	Hope Taken Away

_We never kill._ It had always been Bruce's mantra, solemnly agreed to by the enthusiastic twelve-year-old who hadn't had a fucking clue what that promise would take away from him.

 _There's always another way._ That had been Clark's mantra, repeatedly taught to a worshipful child who hadn't known better than to believe the foolish lies of Superman's optimism.

Both Clark and Bruce's words went unheard the instant Dick lifted the broken body of the little girl whose pictures littered his refrigerator into his arms.

She was dead. If the universe had a shred of mercy, her father would follow her instead of waking up from his coma.

But Dick was pretty sure the universe _didn't_ know the meaning of the word. If it did, the man who had already taken so much from Dick never would have been allowed to roam free. If the universe gave a damn about anyone, Lian and Roy wouldn't have been added to the list of the Joker's victims.

"And you know what the punchline is?" Dick taunted the bruised and broken body that had taken away a Batgirl, a Robin, a Red Arrow, and a Daughter. "You don't even know why I'm doing this. She wasn't anything to you, and neither was he. Both accidents, innocent bystanders you killed along with hundreds of others."

Even if the universe was merciful, just this once, Roy wouldn't get to die like a hero. The Joker had taken that away too. Dick knew, when he thought about those scribbles on his refrigerator, how much that would have hurt Lian. She'd always been so _proud_ of her daddy.

A man whose daughter would still be _alive_ if only he'd had the good sense not to move to this _stupid city_ just for the sake of being with Dick.

The Joker's hideous laughter echoed throughout the abandoned warehouse. Crazy until the end. Dick supposed he should feel sorry for the man.

 _Sympathy is what separates us from them._ Bruce had always believed that, and once upon a time, Dick had agreed with him.

 _There's always hope._ Clark's belief had been wrong. Sometimes hope was taken away.

Outside the window, the Bat Signal shown brightly in the sky, telling Dick he didn't have a lot of time.

Years worth of target practice that he would never again repeat rang in his head as Dick raised Roy's gun and made the laughter stop.


End file.
